Snape picked up the unconscious form of Hermione Granger, wrapped her in his cloak, and moved outside. The ordinarily dreary sky had peaked with rays of orange and yellow. He apparated to Hogwarts, rushing inside with his dying student.
The evidence of battle was all around, but even where there should have been only images of destruction, an aura of new birth was rising, cleansing the air. The evil had dissipated and balance had shifted back to good. Instead of basking in the warmth of this victory, he hurried past the injured towards the castle. Before he could enter the main doors, Minerva McGonagall caught sight of him and rushed to see who he was carrying.
"Severus!" she yelled. He ignored her and picked up the pace of his walk before she caught up to him. "Severus Snape! Where are you going? Who is tha…" she saw a small hand fall from the cloak, trembling and a length of curls escaping over his elbow. "My gods, what happened Severus?" she inquired. "I haven't the time to answer that, now kindly let me pass, I must get to my rooms." He could hear calling to him as he sped past the main hall and down into the dungeons.
Snape unwrapped Hermione and placed her in a warm bath. Finally able to assess the damage, he could see the whipping scars on her back and the thick white scars where the stakes ground through her palms. Around the discolorations and swelling on her face, he could see a white scar that ran from her forehead, across her right eye, down her jaw, over her lip, down her neck and into her chest. He had tried to quickly keep her from bleeding to death on the floor of the cell and didn't have the chance to see where the puddles of blood drew their source. Cleansing her in the warm bath and administering potions, she awoke but said nothing. She stared blankly at the wall and when he turned her to him, there was nothing – no recoil, no horror, no anger, just emptiness. He drew her from the tub and wrapped her in fresh towels, drying her hair and moving her to his bed.
He laid her in the bed and pulled the covers around her. She lay on her side and cried silently, eyes open but not registering any of her surroundings. Beneath the covers, he could see her hands trembling, a nasty effect of sustained Crucio. He knew how long she had to have suffered to have developed that lasting tremble.
Snape tried to probe her mind but found nothingness. She had sealed herself behind the wall in her mind and even the branding couldn't allow him entry. The harder he tried to reach her, the more she resisted, the brand burning red and bleeding on the back of her neck for her disobedience. When he saw the small pool of blood on the sheets, he realized he was causing her pain. He applied a cooling salve to her neck and didn't try to find her again.
He watched her drift to sleep in his bed from the chair across the room. He heard his doors open and felt the two visitors arrive. Minerva and Poppy stood at his door and looked at the sleeping image of Hermione and a defeated Severus Snape.
"What happened to her, Severus," Poppy asked.
"Unspeakable things, Madam Pomfrey, unspeakable things."
"Perhaps I can help her," she offered.
"She has been healed as well as she can be, the…evidence is irreversible," he said.
"What do you mean?" Minerva asked.
"Dark magic was not designed to be reversible. Her wounds are healed but her scars will remain. They are supposed to serve as a warning should there ever be survivors. No amount of magic can change it."
Minerva pushed a strand of hair away from Hermione's temple and stepped away puzzled. "Severus, what's happening to her hair?"
"Heavens, Minerva, she's been tortured and… and you're worried about her hair?" he demanded.
"Look at her," she persisted. When he looked down to see the drying chestnut curls he saw her hair was more a slightly waved dark brown.
"Dark magic, she has been touched to her core, this won't be the last change we see in Hermione Granger." He paused before telling them, "Now, let her be. She will need someone to care for her soon. I can take care of the effects of the magic on her body but someone needs to help her repair her mind."
Minerva looked at Severus and said, "I'll find Molly."
